Cornwall School Of The Arts
by uniqueinkblots
Summary: AU Peddie. Eddie and Patricia are both new transfer students at a prestigious boarding school that specializes in the fine arts. Call it artistic differences or call it flying sparks, their chemistry is undeniable. Too bad they're both too stubborn to admit it. In the most creative of learning environments, Eddie and Patricia struggle to be friends...and maybe even something more.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hi again! I wasn't expecting to start a new story the same day I finished a different one but it just sort of happened. This is just the introduction though, so it's much shorter than future chapters will be by at least 1k words. But I had a lazy Friday afternoon full of writing so welcome to CSOTA! "Cornwall School of the Arts" is my new project. Like "Destination Trust" this will be Peddie AU but not future. I'm not sure how long this will be or where exactly where I'm going with it. I was intrigued with the idea of Patricia pursuing music or something artsy like Piper. I figured a story where all our favorite HOA characters attended a school for the fine arts could be fun! I honestly have no clue how this is going to turn out. I don't have an outline yet or anything - just a vague idea. So it should be an adventure! Hopefully I'll put together a plan of action soon so I know where exactly I want to go with this.

**Disclaimer: **House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

* * *

Eddie blinked as the tall majestic building came into view. He could tell it was old; it was made of what looked like a combination of stone and brick with ivy hanging down some of the windows. But it was still _elegant, _complete with four grand towers. His new school was basically a castle. "You have got to be kidding me," he said with disbelief. "Dad...this place..."

"It's incredible, isn't it?" Mr. Sweet smiled at him warmly, eyes lit with hope and excitement for his dear son.

"It's _Hogwarts_," Eddie replied, inching closer to the taxi window and looking outside. Cornwall School of the Arts was placed on a large sloping hill that overlooked the sea. It sort of looked like a vacation destination. "This place is ridiculous," he muttered, taking in the iron wrought gates decorated with the school crest. His tone held no traces of bitterness or scorn. In fact, he was full of awe. "I'm basically Harry Potter now that I go here. Ron! Hermione! Where are you?"

"Edison, please! What are you doing? Behave." Mr. Sweet said, exasperated. He dragged Eddie back into the taxi, who had taken the liberty of sticking his head out the window and babbling about Harry Potter related nonsense. A couple uniformed kids looked up at him, amused and confused all at once. "I _really _need to read these books about magic you keep mentioning. I don't understand any of your references these days," Mr. Sweet mumbled to himself.

"I have the first book in my backpack if you'd like to borrow it," Eddie offered.

At this, Mr. Sweet gave his son a curious look. "You have books in that bag? It must be really heavy then."

"It's worth it. It's ah...comforting," Eddie finally settled on the right word, figuring he might as well as be honest. "Worst case scenario...if all of the kids are losers and I don't make friends or if I'm not talented enough to keep up with everyone, I'll need something to keep me busy. I could read these series _over and over _no problem. I mean, I'll have to do it secretly because reading looks dorky, but yeah. Of course I brought my Harry Potter books."

"I love that you read, son," Mr. Sweet said delightedly, the educator in him coming out. He immediately sobered though, taking in the rest of Eddie's words. "But I'm sure your books will become positively dusty, laying around underneath your bed or something. You are far too brilliant and charming for people not to like you. Everything will be just fine."

Eddie nodded, thankful but a little doubtful. It was nice to have such an encouraging father but Eddie knew that his dad was being a little too optimistic. For starters, he was moving from America to Britain. With his luck, everyone would gawk over his accent for at least a month before their amazement faded. It didn't matter that he told everyone he was half british, no one really cared. He sounded American and he had lived in America and that's all that counted.

Then there was the fact that the school was sort of elite. For such a large building, each class size was fairly small, with only about 100 students per grade. All of these students were serious about pursuing art in the future. Cornwall School of the Arts was a prep school for higher education in art. If you attended school here, the expectation was that you be accepted into a prestigious or well-known school in the field of your choice. Eddie wasn't sure how he would fit in with people so intense and uptight about the future. He was personally a little more carefree.

Not to mention most of the kids had known each other since their freshman year. Eddie was transferring as a junior. He was worried he would be a little bit of an outcast. Mr. Sweet had assured him that every semester Cornwall accepted about three new transfer students but that didn't make him feel any better. Three was not a very large number. The chances that he connected with the other new kids were slim.

"I'm so excited to see some of your work when your mother and I come to visit during fall break. I know moving to a completely different country was difficult but I'm really proud of the decision you're making. Eddie, I can't tell you how pleased I was when you decided to pursue your interest in photography. You're literally brilliant, son. This school will help you sharpen your talent. And if you don't like it here, you could always come to _my _school. There's always room for you," Mr. Sweet stepped out of the taxi and took two of the bags out of the trunk, smiling at his son reassuringly. Eddie followed his father's example and grabbed the rest of the bags.

"Thanks. But the reason I applied to Cornwall is because I didn't want to be in a school where you're the principal. You're awesome dad but that's just social suicide. And besides, I've always wanted to experience boarding school. Kind of like - "

"Harry Potter," Mr. Sweet finished ruefully. "Yes, so I've heard. Now come on. Let's get you registered and settled in your dorm."

Eddie grinned.

* * *

Patricia groaned as she dumped Piper's duffel bag on the steps. She rested her hands on her hip and bent over, panting. "You. are. ridiculous." With a reluctant sigh, she picked up the bag once more and heaved it up the remaining steps.

"Thanks so much," Piper gasped, reaching the top step with another bag in hand. "I only packed the essentials. I swear."

Patricia glared at her twin sister. "A likely story," she muttered. "You should be studying acting or performance art with lies like that. Not music."

Piper winked. "Thanks sis! I'm versatile. But I'll leave the acting to you. I still find it so amusing. You practically defy the personality of theater people. They're usually so bubbly, warm, and outgoing. They're _made _of energy and sunshine. And you're just like..." she trailed off, taking in Patricia's murderous stare. "...you're better than all of them. SO gregarious!" Piper finished lamely.

"Ugh. You're right though," Patricia admitted reluctantly. "I'm nothing like the other theater people AND I'm a transfer student. This school is going to suck."

"It won't be so bad!" Piper comforted. "At least we're together. We're roommates. And think of all the fun we'll have confusing people. It will be brilliant fun," she assured her. "Plus I did some research on the website. Cornwall accepts about three to five transfer students. I'm sure there's at least one person in the same boat as us. We just need to find them."

Patricia shrugged thoughtfully. That was true. Finding the other new kid _should _bring at least a little comfort.

Little did she knew the other transfer student would turn her entire world upside down.

After all, the new transfer student was Eddie Sweet.

* * *

**A/N: **And there's the introduction! Even though I'm not positive on the direction I'm taking this story, I have a lot of random ideas I'm eager to explore. Just to clarify: in this story, Eddie's parents are together and well. (If you read "Destination Trust" you'd know I had them divorced and separate so I didn't want to confuse old readers.) Mr. Sweet was offered to transfer to a brand new school in Britain, so he picked up his family and moved. He offered Eddie the chance to go to his school, but naturally, Eddie refused and instead applied and was accepted to this prestigious boarding school for the fine arts: Cornwall School of the Arts. He's a new kid but surprise, surprise! So are Patricia and Piper. And of course I'll introduce the rest of the HoA gang as well because that seems like it will be fun.

If you have any further questions about the background of this fic, feel free to ask! And I'm really tentative and unsure about this so I'd absolutely love to hear from you, whether you're an old time reviewer or someone completely new with an unfamiliar penname. Let's just all be friends forever. Just kidding...sort of? (That was me trying to be funny. I'm tragically awkward.)

Anyway, thanks for reading! I hope to gain some insight on everyone's thoughts about this so please review :)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the brilliant response to the first chapter! I'm so glad to see people are just as excited as I am. I still don't have a proper and detailed outline but I have come to accept that fact that sometimes it's okay to sort of wing it. We'll see what formulates!

And thanks to the helpful guest reviewer who pointed out the difference between "years" and "grades" and "terms" and "semesters". I wish you had a proper fanfiction account so I could PM you a proper thanks! But no, since I live in America and am fairly oblivious, I forgot the difference in terminology and I wasn't aware that the schooling was different in the UK and the US. (Though I totally should have. Oops.) But since CSOTA is a specialized school let's just ignore the classic British education system and say that this school models an American one. While I am now aware that secondary schooling in the UK is considered grade seven to grade twelve, sometimes thirteen, that concept doesn't exactly fit. (I don't think it makes sense to train little twelve years olds in dramatic writing or acting SO this CSOTA will be an American based school located in Britain.) Thanks for understanding and if any of you ever spots a major hole in the story or some kind of random error (typos excluded) please tell me so in a review or PM me. Always appreciated!

* * *

Cornwall School of the Arts was split into four separate programs. There was an acting program where students looking to enter film, television, or live theater studied. There was a writing program that offered dramatic writing and musical theatre writing in addition to regular writing. The third program specialized in instrumentals and vocal performance while the fourth concentrated solely in photography. Because the school was so selective, grades were limited to about 100 students. And since the programs themselves were so focused, the class size split into roughly even fourths. There were about 25 students in every single school who studied together and took the exact same classes. The different programs only shared courses in the courses of mathematics and english. Cornwall didn't allowed their students to skip out on the basics even though they intended to study artistic fields.

When Patricia had checked in with the main office, she had been instructed to attend play rehearsal and meet all her peers and fellow acting students. Since there were only about 25 of them, everyone was cast in the show. So, she wandered the halls until she found the performing arts center. She poked her head inside the large room and stepped inside when she saw a group huddled near the front of the stage.

She felt her cheeks heat up as everyone stopped talking to look at her. "Um hi. I'm..."

"Patricia Williamson!" A young man approached her and shook her hand, smiling pleasantly. "My name is Connor Matthews, the director of the acting school. Just call me Connor though. We've been expecting you! So glad to have you join us. Lucky for you, we've only just started the preparation for our first play, a showcase of scenes and songs. I'm sure there will be plenty of places to integrate your talent. But anyway, why don't you introduce herself?"

Patricia blinked, a little dazed. She didn't see the point of introducing herself when Connor had basically already done so but she didn't feel like countering what appeared to be a very energetic, lively advisor. "I'm Patricia," she offered a short wave. She warily regarded her peers, carefully schooling a blank expression. What she wanted to do was wince and run away from the bubbly vibes she was sensing. "I'm uh...probably not as wildly outgoing as I'm sure all of you are," she let out a nervous laugh. "I'm sort of introverted so uh I guess that's weird for someone in the acting school. But I really like theatre even though sometimes I pretend I don't...?" she ducked her head shyly, internally groaning. That had been the stupidest introduction ever. She should have never said those things!

A beat of silence passed before a cheerful looking blond squealed. "Oh, the new girl is adorable! You were so honest and that was amazing! And we'll make you adore theatre and be super proud so don't even worry! I'm Amber, by the way. We're all going to be your new best friends!" She gestured wildly to the rest of the students and beamed.

"Your weird attitude is kind of refreshing," another boy commented. His hair was consciously styled, his eyes a piercing blue. "I'm Jerome," he announced. Patricia shifted uncomfortably but smiled tightly anyway. Jerome was giving off a kind of weird vibe. He looked sort of amused...intrigued almost. She was going to have to look out for him.

Thankfully though, her awkward speech hadn't done damage. In fact, her classmates seemed to find her funny, which she didn't mind. One by one, they introduced themselves until Patricia's head was swimming with new names and new faces. She hadn't expected everyone to be so welcoming. She had figured that the acting troop would be close knit and against change but they seemed perfectly nice. Unexpected but definitely not bad.

"Now that we're all acquainted with Patricia..." Connor began.

"You mean now that we're all best friends with Patricia," Amber solemnly corrected.

Connor hid a smile and nodded, obviously used to Amber's antics. "That's what I meant," he replied easily, earning a bright smile from Amber. "Let's go over some of the scenes I selected for showcase and figure out who should get what part, shall we? Patricia, I'm going to ask you to read for our first scene. We're all unfamiliar with your acting, and I'm sure we'd love to see you perform," he said. "Oh, and I want Jerome to join Patricia on the stage. Okay people, let's run some lines!"

"This should be good," Jerome murmured, eyes flashing with something Patricia still couldn't label.

Patricia resisted the urge to sigh. Fantastic. Her first reading would be with her strange, borderline creepy classmate. Flipping through the script, she gazed at the italics and groaned. She was supposed to speak in an American accept. She was terrible at that.

"I've never been to Europe before," Patricia read. She was so distressed over her miserable American accent that her acting wasn't excellent either.

Jerome didn't even bother to read his lines. Letting his script fall to the ground, he shot her a curious look. "You're not very good at this, are you? Not only was your accent off, your acting was atrocious. No emotion at all."

"Jerome!" Connor admonished. "I'll be making the comments around here," he lectured. Offering Patricia sympathetic smile, he patted her shoulder understandingly. "It's your first day, and that's always tough. We can worry about the accent later. Let's at least work on channeling emotion into the lines, all right? I want to feel the amazement!"

Embarrassed and suddenly in a terrible mood, Patricia nodded. She refused to meet Jerome's gaze. "I've never been to Europe before!" she said again, making her tone full of wonder and admiration.

Jerome scoffed, still focusing on the accent and still unimpressed. The rest of the class nodded in approval at her acting but some were still fighting smiles at the failed accent.

And naturally, Eddie chose that moment to walk in.

* * *

"Ms. Bloom wanted me to deliver these photos of the musical from last spring," Eddie walked into the auditorium holding a rather large album. He had met with the advisor of the photography program, Ms. Elise Bloom and she had requested him to run an errand on his way back to the dorms.

"Thanks!" Connor accepted the album and stared at Eddie, intrigued. "How long have you been standing in the corner though? You should have shared that wonderful American accent of yours right away, Patricia over here could use some tips! However did you manage to perfect it so well? It's _very _convincing."

Eddie was thoroughly confused. "What?" He laughed. "I just walked in so I think you made a mistake. Plus..."

"Oh!" Connor exclaimed delightedly. "_Patricia, _come closer! I want you listen to this young man speak very carefully, his accent is spot on. Come on!"

Patricia hopped off the stage and gritted her teeth. "How nice of you embarrass me like that," she hissed under her breath. "Did you find it amusing? To watch me suck at running my lines and then time you entrance oh so perfectly? You and your stupid American accent. Where _did _you to learn to do it so well? I'm dying to know," she muttered, half sarcastic.

She hadn't planned on busting out the attitude so early in the semester but this kid, whoever he was, had some serious nerve.

"The accent isn't fake!" Eddie protested.

"Oh, a likely story!" Patricia snapped, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Just drop the act. You've already succeeded in upstaging me and you're not even _in _the acting program."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Still under the impression that Eddie's accent was fake, Patricia scowled in annoyance at hearing his voice. "Stop it!"

"Stop _what?" _Eddie sounded incredulous. "My name is Eddie Sweet, I'm in the photography program, and I'm here to deliver _photos. _I'm one of the new transfer students so that's why you haven't seen me around. A transfer student from _America _as in I have an American accept. And it's real," he added, casting Patricia a dark look before stalking off.

_Oh._

Patricia winced. Suddenly Eddie's persistence with the fake accent suddenly made a lot of sense. It wasn't fake.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper," Patricia turned to face the class, her gaze trained towards the floor. "It's just...he was so annoying and I misunderstood! _My name is Eddie Sweet," _she mimicked.

"Well look at that," Connor commented mildly. "Your accent just improved when you ah.._.emulated _that boy's speaking style. That's apparently real..." he trailed off deep in thought.

Carefully, meeting the gaze of her classmates, Patricia sighed and braced herself for the worst.

It never came.

"What a perfect diva moment!" Amber gushed. "I mean you were pretty rude but it's okay, I'm sure he'll get over it if you ever even see him again. And your accent _did _get better. I'd call this afternoon a success."

"You've definitely earned my respect," Jerome said dryly, but sincerely. "You're an interesting girl." And for the first time, he shot her a genuine smile, playful and warm.

Jerome was cute when he smiled. Woah. Where had _that _thought come from? Of course...Eddie had been sort of cute too, not that she had seen him smile. She had kind of ruined any chance she had of relating to possibly the only other transfer student besides Piper. She winced. That had not been one of her finer moments.

"Shall we run lines again? Connor proposed.

"Rehearsal is over," Patricia pointed out, glancing at her watch. "And I have something I need to take care of. It was nice to meet you all though," she added, surprised that she meant it. "See you all in class."

Everyone had already forgotten Patricia's little fit and rough encounter with Eddie, so they grinned and waved goodbye. Patricia hadn't though.

Feeling extremely guilty about snapping at someone _completely _innocent, Patricia followed signs until she found herself in the photography wing of the building. She didn't know where to look, there were so many classrooms and he might even be in his dorm. Walking around, lost and confused, Patricia was surprised when she almost tripped over someone's feet.

She looked down and followed the person's feet until she was staring at their face. It was Eddie.

He had been sitting in the hall with his back propped against the wall, legs stretched out, phone in hand.

"My mistake," Patricia said. "I was actually just looking for you."

"Me?" Eddie laughed, bitter. "What do you want?"

His tone was rude and uninterested but Patricia knew she deserved it. But somehow, she hadn't been expecting it.

_Now _what should she do?

* * *

**A/N: **I know there wasn't a ton of Eddie in this chapter but there will be in future ones. Also - I'm working on slowly introducing the other HoA characters into this fic but don't be alarmed if you see certain things develop between certain characters. I assure you, it's a Peddie fic! Please let me know what you think :)


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **It's been about three weeks since I updated this thing...oops! :( I didn't forget about CSOTA - I just got swept up in the college workload and the fact that holidays are right around the corner. Also...it turns out that netflix is kind of addictive. I meant to write a few chapters ahead but that didn't happen since I officially have the shortest attention span ever. So I apologize! Thanks for waiting and thanks for the beautiful, encouraging reviews! I should have had this up ages ago.

**********Disclaimer:** House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

* * *

_What do you want?_

Patricia shifted her weight from one foot to the other, feeling awkward. She wasn't sure how to answer that question so instead she cleared her throat and did her best to change the subject...at least for the time being. "Can I sit here?"

Eddie looked surprised but nodded slightly, shifting his backpack aside and scooting over until there was room for Patricia on the floor. She slid down next to him and sighed. It was time to answer his question.

"I wanted to apologize," she admitted. "I'm sorry I was so rude earlier. I was taking my frustration out on you and that was wrong of me. Um...I know realize your accent is real. You're American."

Eddie let out a small snort and Patricia looked up, bewildered. Seeing her curious look, Eddie allowed himself to smile. "Nothing..." he said, answering her unvoiced question. "It's just...I get the feeling you don't apologize very often," he chuckled.

"Don't get used to it," Patricia muttered darkly.

"Noted," Eddie responded, rising to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Patricia didn't expect the question to come tumbling from her lips, but it did.

"I'm one of the new transfer students so I should get to know the building a little better," Eddie answered warily, waiting for Patricia's harsh judgement. Not only was he American, he was the odd one out. She was bound to say something.

"Me too!" Patricia exclaimed. "I was hoping to meet the third and final transfer student."

"You too?" Eddie's eyes widened before he grinned. "We probably should of gotten off on the right foot then."

"We're doing fine now," Patricia retorted.

Eddie blinked in surprise at the sass in her voice. "Look at that attitude. I like you, fellow transfer." Eddie praised, his smile widening. He offered Patricia her hand and she took it willingly, getting to her feet. "If we're both new, we might as well as explore together then. Now what's this you said about knowing the other transfer student?"

"Her name is Piper and she's in the music program. Um...she's actually my twin sister."

"_Twin sister?" _Eddie echoed incredulously. "There are two of you running about, huh?"

"We're actually _very _different."

"I'm sure. You can tell me about it while we explore the four towers," Eddie suggested. He reached for the school's brochure from his back pocket and glanced it over. "So the acting program sticks to the North Tower so that's where we are now," he said, casting a quick look at Patricia. "You know...you don't really seem like the type who would like to act."

"Like I haven't heard that before," Patricia rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Don't judge."

Eddie smirked but refocused his attention on the brochure. "The South Tower is for the writing program, the East Tower is for the photography program, and the West Tower is for the music program. Roommates mixed though, to encourage, diversity..." Eddie read off the paper. "Huh, makes sense. Even though all my classes are held in the East Tower, I happen to live in the North one. I haven't met my roommate yet, but judging from the amount of books on his shelf, he's _definitely _in the writing program which hosts classes in the _South _tower. That's crazy confusing," he mused.

Patricia stomped her foot impatiently. "I live in the North tower too but enough chitchat!" she chided. "Come on, funny accent, let's go!"

"Funny accent?" Eddie repeated. "If you insist on nicknames, my last name is Sweet," he drawled.

"Sweet?" Patricia giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Eddie said smacking his forehead. "Like I haven't heard the name jokes before."

"_Sweet, _though," Patricia said, still giggling. "You're anything but!"

"Yeah well. You're not bubbly or energetic like all the other acting people I know," Eddie shot back.

"We've already established that," Patricia pointed out. "My last name is Williamson, by the way," she offered.

"Okay, _Williamson_," Eddie said. "Let's explore. Don't think this little adventure makes us friends though," he warned.

"We're not friends?" Patricia demanded. "Why not?"

Eddie winked dramatically, before stuffing the brochure back into his pocket. "Because. Something tells me it will be _much _more fun to be enemies instead."

Patricia tilted her head to the side, considering this. "Frenemies," she suggested, extending her hand. Eddie shook it willingly, smirking all the while.

"Frenemies it is, Williamson. Frenemies it is."

* * *

Patricia barged into her room later that night and flopped onto her bed, exhausted. The school was _huge_. She and Eddie had wandered around for _hours, _chattering and bantering the whole time. They had agreed to be "frenemies" because they both had great senses of humor, but Patricia knew that's all it was. A joke. They were _obviously _friends, just playful and teasing. She kind of liked it. Eddie hadn't made her feel uncomfortable like that other guy had...Jerome or whatever._  
_

"I met a boy," Patricia announced after a moment of silence, turning to her side so that she was facing Piper. "And the kids in my acting program."

"Oh?" Piper leaned forward, eager and curious. "The boy you meant wasn't _in _the acting program? Where is he from?"

"The photography program," Patricia answered. "I met a boy in the acting program too though. He was...eh, he was okay. Kind of snarky."

"That sounds exactly like you though!"

"Something was off though," Patricia insisted. "Eddie is way cooler than Jerome. Eddie and I are _frenemies."_

Piper leaned back, her face blank. "What?"

"Frenemies! We like to tease each other so we decided to be frenemies instead of friends. It's just a title. Obviously, we get a long..."

"Sounds adorable," Piper cut off, deciding she had heard enough. "You are such an oddball. But speaking of boys...I met one too!" Patricia squealed in excitement for her sister. It's true that she normally didn't go for the "girly go crazy over boys" attitude, but Piper was her _sister, _and even her dorky side could be shown in front of her. "His name is Alfie. He's in the music program too! I can't wait till classes start tomorrow...I know I'll see him. Something is there. I can feel it. Kind of like you and Eddie!"

"Me and Eddie?" Patricia scoffed. "You've got it all wrong. I told you...we're just friends. The guys I mentioned weren't from a romantic perspective. They're just people I met."

"Whatever you say," Piper said, laying back down on her bed and shutting the lights off. "_Whatever _you say," she said.

Patricia rolled her eyes and reached out to flip the light switch. Surrounded in darkness, she closed her eyes and settled in for the night. Tomorrow was her first official day at this school and she was nervous and excited.

She wondered what was in store for her.

* * *

**A/N: **I know this was a short update and very dialogue heavy, but I figured I had I should put _something _out there since it had been so long. I'm still trying to figure out what the average chapter length will be, but I think they will be fairly short...or at least they have been so far. Between 1-2k words. But of course, if the chapter length is going to be on the short end, I'll work on updating more frequently. I'll shoot for a couple times a week and if the story line progresses and things get more complex, we'll go from there. We'll figure it out! Just please don't mind if chapter length kinda bounces around...some might be long, some might be short. I'll work to find a balance.

**Quick Recap:**

There are four programs: Acting (North Tower), Writing (South Tower), Photography (East Tower), & Music (West Tower).

Characters in the Acting Program: Patricia, Amber, & Jerome.

Characters in the Writing Program: Take a guess if you'd like! I hinted at one...he's Eddie's roommate! There are three characters total.

Characters in the Photography Program: Eddie and two others! Again, feel free to make guesses. We'll meet them soon.

Characters in the Music Program: Piper and Alfie.

Classes for each program are all located on certain floors of their respective towers. But the remaining floors of each tower house the dormitories for the students and it's mixed up. So for example, like Eddie observed, even though Eddie goes to the East Tower for his classes and his roommate goes to the South Tower for his classes, they happen to live in the _North _Tower where the acting classes are held. It's all jumbled up.

I know it's confusing so please PM me or leave a question in a review if you get a little lost! And I'm eager to see your guesses for who all are in the Writing and Photography Programs. We're going to meet everybody soon and then you can see if you were right or not!


	4. Chapter 4

**************A/N:** Hello again :) I hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving enjoyed their holiday weekend and black friday shopping experiences! I went home for the break and it was amazing.

Thanks for all the reviews! This story is just beginning so I'm so excited that people are liking it so soon. I'm not sure how many chapters it will be but I think it's safe to say that it will be at least fifteen. Anyway, read on to see if you were correct in your guessing about who belongs to what program! I believe some people nailed it.

**************Disclaimer:** House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

* * *

Patricia stared at the ceiling and sighed before lifting herself up onto one elbow to check the time on her phone. 5:50 a.m...her alarm would go off in ten minutes. She flung the covers aside and let her feet hit the cold ground. Having spent most of the night tossing and turning in anticipation for her first day of classes, Patricia saw no reason to stay in bed any longer. Normally, she wasn't the easiest of people to rouse. But today was different...she was so nervous.

Glancing at Piper's bed and seeing her still asleep, Patricia padded over towards her dresser and blindly pulled her uniform out. She slipped inside the bathroom and let the door click softly behind her so as not to rouse her sister. Patricia had to admit: Cornwall's facilities were pretty solid. It was a dream coming true, not having to deal with communal bathrooms like she had so miserably been expecting.

Freshly showered and clothed, Patricia excited the bathroom fifteen minutes later. Piper was awake, sitting cross-legged on the bed, waiting for the bathroom to free up. "Morning," she mumbled, rubbing at her face. "I didn't expect you to be up before me."

"It won't be happening often," Patricia assured her, fidgeting with the collar of her blazer. "Stupid red blazer," she muttered to herself.

"Mine is green," Piper commented mildly, pulling her blazer away from the pile of clothes she had laid out on her chair. "See? Each program has the same uniform but with different colored accents to compliment the gray. The music program wears green and the acting program wears red."

"Fantastic. We'll look like _Christmas _all the time," Patricia remarked sarcastically, rummaging through her dresser to confirm Piper's explanation. It was true: her drawers were filled with different uniform garments all red and gray in color. "I don't understand..." she said slowly in confusion. "These aren't several of the same thing. The clothing kind of varies."

"Relaxed uniform policy," Piper said cheerfully. "As long as you wear some semblance of Cornwall's uniform, you're good to go! Pretty cool, huh?" Seeing her sister readjust her blazer for the tenth time, Piper rolled her eyes and hopped out of bed, patting Patricia's shoulder cheerfully. "Take it easy, you look fantastic. I'm going to go take a shower and then how about we tackle the dining hall together?"

"It's getting late," Patricia pointed out. "I don't think we're going to have time for breakfast. Let's just walk to class together and meet up for lunch instead?"

Piper smiled warmly. "Sounds perfect!" She closed the bathroom door behind her and let the sink run. Patricia could hear her rummaging around, looking for her toothbrush. A moment later, Piper spoke again, mouth full of toothpaste. "How long do you think we're going to get along and be nice to one another? I don't think we'll last long," she said thoughtfully through her mouth of foam.

"Not at all," Patricia confirmed with a giggle.

Somehow feeling better after their little chat, Patricia settled down on her bed and waited for Piper to be done. They were going to tackle their new school together, side by side.

* * *

"Good luck in the north tower!" Piper called over her shoulder.

"Make good music in the west one," Patricia replied, grinning at Piper before heading towards the north tower. Walking "together" hadn't exactly worked out, considering they weren't going to the same place.

Now that Piper was gone, Patricia could feel the nerves again. Anticipation and dread invaded her, twisting her stomach into knots. She looked around cautiously, seeing a sea of red and gray uniform pass her. No one stared. They were probably upperclassmen, she figured. Grateful for not being noticed, Patricia continued down the hall, searching for her first class. Maybe no one would spot her. Ever.

"New girl! Patricia!"

...or not.

Patricia turned around, looking for the voice that had called her. She was met with the sight of the bubbly blond from the other afternoon. "Hi..um.."

"Amber," the girl supplied her helpfully, shooting her an curious look. "Daddy says that I'm unforgettable. But you seemed to forget pretty quickly," she added suspiciously with the smallest hint of sadness.

Patricia braced herself for the feeling of irritation, but it never came. She was surprised; this girl was kind of...out there. But somehow, she didn't mind her too much. She was sort of amusing. "I'm new, remember," Patricia nudged Amber in the most friendly manner she knew how. "I'm sure I won't forget again. After all...you said we're going to be best friends right?"

Amber clapped her hands together and squealed. "Nailed it!" Seeing Patricia's look of confusion, she laughed. "The part of spoiled little daddy's girl," she clarified. "I'm a good actress," she boasted. "Oh...one second." Amber pulled her cellphone out of her bag and immediately chirped a cheerful hello. "Daddy! You called to wish me good luck for the first day of classes, I knew you'd remember! While I have you on the line, if we could discuss an increase in allowance..."

Patricia found herself grinning. She wondered if Amber realized her "acting" wasn't too far from the truth. Amber motioned Patricia to follow, so she obediently trailed behind the blond towards their first class. By the time they reached, Amber was done talking on the phone. She dragged Patricia to the third row of the classroom and immediately began launching into a detailed discussion of the story behind her current choice of nail polish.

Patricia cheerfully tuned her new friend out (she had a feeling that would be happening a lot) and glanced around the classroom. Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Jerome.

"I'm going to sit here," he announced, dropping into the free seat beside Patricia. "We meet again, new girl," he winked.

"I get the feeling you're kind of a pig," Patricia commented. Amber put her hands to her mouth and Patricia flushed. Had she _actually _just said that aloud to someone she barely knew? "I mean...I..." she stammered, at a loss for words.

"Take it easy, Williamson," Jerome responded with a smirk. "You didn't hurt my feelings like you did that other joker," he said referring to Eddie.

Patricia was surprised by the annoyance that bubbled up inside her chest. She felt the fierce need to defend Eddie and she barely even knew him...it didn't make sense. "That was different," she found herself saying. Knowing Jerome would tease her about protecting Eddie, she immediately changed the subject. "You remembered my last name?"

"I remember everything about people that _interest _me."

Naturally, Patricia spent the rest of her first class attempting to decipher the meaning behind Jerome's comment. She wasn't sure if there even _was _a meaning, but something about his intense gaze had her guessing...the remark might have been more than casual.

* * *

"The new boy is cute!" Joy cooed. Eddie had just walked into the hall with Fabian, his roommate. They had been out there for all of ten seconds, but already, he had been identified as the odd one out. He hung his head and sighed, looking towards his roommate for guidance.

"I might have told Joy that you, the new kid, was my roommate," Fabian admitted sheepishly under his breath. "Just introduce yourself. Joy is great, I promise."

"Uh...thanks. I'm Eddie," he giving the kids who had arrived thus far a small smile.

"And he's American!" Joy exclaimed. "Oh, you're adorable! Fabian, your roommate is wonderful."

"Relax, Joy," Fabian scolded cheerfully. "Anyway, Eddie. Joy and I are headed to class, we're both in the writing program. We're running a little late though," he said, checking his watch. "Hopefully Mara saved us a seat."

"I'm sure she did," Joy soothed, linking her arm through Fabian's. "See you later, Eddie! So nice to meet you."

"Text me if you need anything," Fabian added helpfully, offering Eddie a helpless wave before being whisked away by the ever enthusiastic Joy. Eddie smirked and shook his head at the sight of the two of them. He wasn't sure if they were a _thing _but it looked like they certainly could be.

His roommate was a pretty cool dude, once you got past the extreme dorkiness and love of books. Fabian was definitely bright and a friendly guy, even if he was a little bit on the quiet side. He seemed levelheaded and chill. Eddie didn't think it would be hard to live with him. Feeling the last of his nerves disappear, he squared his shoulders and entered his classroom. He was ready to see what was in store for him.

A basketball came flying towards his face. Eddie immediately raised his hands and caught the ball, blinking in shock. Well. That hadn't been on the list of things he was expecting.

"Mick! I told you not to toss that around! People are walking through that door, you could have hit..." the girl stopped mid sentence, gazing at Eddie curiously. "I don't know you," she apologized.

"I'm one of the new transfers," Eddie explained. "I'm Eddie."

"Sorry, I nearly hit you," Mick apologized. "Good catch though!" He stuck out his hand and Eddie took it, shaking it with a grin. The other boy was tall and pretty built.

"You're a sports man, huh?"

"You can tell?" Mick brightened at this. "I am, mate. Are you?"

Eddie shrugged. "Certain sports are cool." He was about to say more before he looked at the girl who had scolded Mick. "Wait a second!" he explained. "You're..."

"American," she finished. "My name is Nina. My family is from the states but I really wanted to go to school here. You're American too, huh?"

"New York City, born and raised," Eddie confirmed.

"California," Nina replied. "Here, come sit with us! We can talk about where you come from more."

"Or sports. We could talk about sports," Mick interjected.

Eddie grinned. "For sure, dude. There's time for everything," he assured the other boy.

Mick and Nina seemed like the right sort of people. Grateful for finding friendly faces, he sat next to them and launched into easy conversation. By the end of class, Eddie was sure that he was going to be okay. His heart warmed at the thought. Apparently, his Harry Potter books would stay tucked away underneath his bed. He wasn't going to need his comfort books. He was going to do just fine here.

* * *

Patricia walked into the lunchroom with Amber at her heels. Surprisingly, Jerome remained with them. She didn't ask him why, but he could feel her curious stare. "The acting people stick together for the most part," he explained.

"That's not true!" Amber said. "Everyone sits with everyone, Patricia," she informed her new friend. "Cornwall isn't very cliquey at all. In fact, most days, this clown sits with his best friend, Alfie."

"Shut up," Jerome hissed. Patricia bit the inside of her cheek. Was it too pretentious to think that maybe he was sticking with them because he wanted to be near _her? _She wasn't exactly interested in him, but she got the vibe that somehow, the opposite might be true. "And by the way. Alfie would die if he ever heard you say that. He worships the very ground you walk on," Jerome finished.

"Don't be silly, he does _not," _Amber replied, her cheeks tinging pink.

"Do you like him?" Patricia whispered, as they got into line.

"Of course not!" Amber said loudly.

Jerome snickered and Patricia let out a small laugh as well.

"You have a cute laugh," Jerome commented.

Now Patricia was _sure _he was flirting with her.

"You're going to have to do better than that," she found herself retorting. "Don't lie. My laugh isn't _cute _or _delicate. _Doesn't sound like bells ringing or whatever. I don't go for that kind of talk."

"Who said I was trying to get you to _go _for anything?" Jerome challenged.

Patricia smiled sweetly. Verbally sparring was _so _her department; she was in her element. "I don't think anyone really had to," she informed him, grabbing her tray, and pulling Amber right behind her. "We're going to go meet my sister, so you might as well as sit with your friend," she called over her shoulder, completely satisfied with the look of disbelief that crossed Jerome's face.

But after a quick moment, it was gone, only to be replaced with a look of intrigue. "Alfie," he said, grabbing his friend's arm. "Do you by any chance know anything about Patricia? The new girl?"

"Oh, hey man," Alfie distractedly loaded his plate with food. "Not really, no. I sit next to her twin sister though! Piper. She's amazing," he added dreamily.

"Interesting," Jerome said slowly, watching Patricia sit next to Amber and Piper, a pretty bright smile on her face. "Tell me more."

* * *

**A/N: **Forgive me for the complete lack of interaction between Eddie and Patricia! :( I didn't realize that happened until I read it over. I'm going to leave it like this though. Seeing as its a Peddie fic, you'll see plenty of them soon enough. This chapter was kind of a filler, but I had to introduce all the other characters and establish some background. But now that's all done so we can see who ends up with who! I kind of have it all figured out but I'm curious to know your opinion...do you prefer canon couples or would you care if I mixed it up? (Not telling you which direction I'm headed except for Peddie obviously. You'll see where I'm headed soon enough!) Please review and share your opinions on that. I'd love to know what you all think ^_^


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **I know it's been over a month since I updated this and I promised to get a new chapter out sooner so I'm extremely sorry about that! My excuses include final exam craze, holidays, and a family vacation. I was more swamped then I realized I was and my time estimate for this chapter was way off. I understand if people have lost interest in this or aren't following this anymore, but for those who are, I'm back! And I have this entire month off so I really can promise more frequent updates. For real this time. OH and I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and happy new year! 2013, here we come. Again, I'm so sorry for the long wait.

**************Disclaimer:** House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

* * *

Eddie walked into the auditorium and navigated around the students filtering into the two sets of double doors. He stood on his tiptoes for a moment and searched for students in uniforms accented with gold like his own. He let out a groan of frustration. It figured all four programs would get called down for a class wide assembly while he was in the bathroom. And naturally, the acting kids would be blocking the path to the photography ones. Resigned to the fact that he wouldn't be able to join Nina and Mick, he quickly slid into the nearest row and tried to ignore the fact that in a sea of reddish uniforms, his was gold.

"I didn't know you were colorblind."

Eddie jumped a little at the familiar voice in his left ear and immediately turned, a smile spreading across his face when he realized who it was.

"Patricia, hey," he said. "I was in the bathroom when people started to get here," he explained, taking in Patricia's amused expression. "I'm not colorblind."

"Could have fooled me," Patricia teased. "So what do you think the assembly is about?"

Eddie shrugged. A retort was on the tip of his tongue but before he could get out his snarky reply, someone ungracefully tripped on his feet, trying to travel down the row he and Patricia were seated in. Eddie was met with the sight of indignant blue eyes and dirty blond hair.

"Sorry," Eddie immediately apologized, biting back a grin. Tripping the other boy had been a complete accident but Eddie always found it funny when someone else floundered. Something about someone losing their balance was just too hilarious for words.

"You should be," the other boy replied simply, eyes glinting with challenge.

Patricia rolled her eyes and patted the empty seat on her other side. "Way to be rude, weasel," she said.

"My name is Jerome!"

"I prefer weasel."

Eddie frowned a little at their banter. Patricia was talking to Jerome in the same playful manner that she had to him earlier that week in the hall. He had no right to be jealous, so he knew that little twinge that stabbed at his heart had nothing to do with the flirty way Patricia and Jerome were going back and forth, playful jabbing and poking included. Totally a coincidence. Right?

"Stop!" Patricia eventually shrieked with laughter, smacking Jerome's hand away. "Cut out the poke war! I can talk to you any time. I want to talk to Eddie before the assembly starts."

Eddie couldn't help but grin. "You chose me?" He was careful to whisper so that only Patricia could hear.

"Duh," Patricia hissed back.

At this, Eddie's smile widened a little more.

* * *

After the assembly, students began to file out of the auditorium. Eddie's head was buzzing with the news: the principal had announced a class wide project. To celebrate the school's 25th anniversary, their class was in charge of making a memory book and organizing a performance of some kind for the entire school and for the parents and public. The acting and music kids would be teaming together to work on the performance, while the writing and photography kids would be coordinating the memory book.

It was refreshing to have that much creative freedom. Since each program was so small, there were only about 50 students working on the performance and another 50 on the book. It was very possible for everyone to for closely together and figure out a theme. The book could be about _anything, _it didn'thave to simply chronicle the school's history. As long as it represented Cornwall in some major way, the theme was up for discussion.

Eddie's mind was racing so quickly, that he had almost forgotten that Patricia had been walking alongside him. She elbowed him lightly. "I _said, _too bad we're not working together, huh?"

It really was. Eddie wouldn't have minded spending more time with Patricia. She was kind of feisty, but there was something about her. He enjoyed her company. Not to mention, for whatever reason, he didn't like the idea of her hanging around Jerome. Not that it was jealously, he stubbornly told himself.

"I can't act or sing so working together is out of the question," he smirked apologetically. He knew better than anyone that his singing was hardly tolerable. "But hey, how about this? I never really see you around. We should have lunch together some time."

"Like a date?"

Eddie whipped his head around to take in Patricia's expression. Her eyes were bright, her mouth set in a cute grin, eyebrow raised. There was a hint of vulnerability in her eyes though, a flash of a silent question. And then it was gone as quickly as it had come. She was decidedly joking.

"Lunch in the school cafeteria is hardly a date," he shot back easily.

"Good answer," Patricia praised. "See you tomorrow for lunch then," she called over her shoulder, before disappearing into the crowd of red and gray uniforms.

Mentally congratulating himself on officially setting aside time to get to know Patricia better, Eddie turned on his heel and rushed to find Mick and Nina.

* * *

"Where have you been, buddy?" Mick said, sounding a little disappointed. "I had to sit by myself."

"Hey!" Nina protested.

"Sorry," Mick responded sheepishly.

Eddie shook his head fondly at his two classmates. "I got separated when I left for the bathroom" he explained. "So this memory book thing sounds cool right?"

"Beyond cool," Mick enthused, launching into an explanation about why half the photos should be dedicated to the evolution of sports at Cornwall. He was still discussing rugby when he was interrupted.

"Excuse me? Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Oh..uh...sure," Mick muttered, sliding his backpack off the vacant stool and motioning for the owner of the voice to sit.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "I'm Mara, from the writing program?" She pointed to her blueish uniform and smiled shyly.

Eddie and Nina jumped in to help poor, awkward Mick and made their introductions. The four of them chatted for a little bit before their respective advisors entered the room. The photography and writing students had been called for initial meeting to bounce ideas back and forth.

From the corner of his eye, Eddie spotted his roommate Fabian seated at the other end of the room. He waved at him and Joy briefly before returning to his conversation with Mara. Mick and Nina had branched off; she was patiently explaining why it wouldn't be a good idea to have a book of football pictures. Mara on the other hand, was excitedly chattering about all the historical research she intended to do.

"I can't possibly propose a theme before I know the historical context," she stated as though it was obvious. "I'm probably going to head to the library after this. Do you want to join me?"

Eddie hesitated. He wasn't a big fan of anything that required too much effort but Mara seemed sweet, and his inner nerd _was _pretty psyched for the memory book project. "Sounds good," he found himself saying.

He slung his backpack on one shoulder and exited the classroom, making a left.

"Where are you going?" Mara asked.

"...library?"

"This way," she giggled, pointing to the right. "You're a transfer student, aren't you?"

"What gave it away, my terrible sense of direction?"

"And the accent," Mara pointed out. "You know...Cornwall is a huge school," she said conversationally. "If you want, I could give you a full tour sometime." Her expression was hopeful and sincere. "Lunch time tomorrow?"

"I can't," Eddie immediately replied, remembering his lunch "date" with Patricia. Mara's face fell a little and Eddie rushed to clarify. "I can't do lunch tomorrow I mean. But maybe after class? Or lunch the day after? I'd love a tour though."

Mara's smile was quick to return. "Lunch day after tomorrow sounds perfect," she said.

Eddie nodded, following his new friend into the library lost in thought. He had _kind of _asked Patricia out and had gotten a casual lunch out of it. Mara, on the other hand, had eagerly offered to give him an entire tour of the school. It wasn't a date or anything but he couldn't help but feel some kind of connection with Mara. She was sort of inspiring. He was in the library after all, wasn't he?

As he reached to pull a dusty book from one of the top shelves, Eddie briefly wondered if Patricia felt some kind of connection with _Jerome_. The book nearly slipped as the thought passed through his head. Where had _that _come from?_  
_

He barely knew Patricia, let alone Jerome. He had no right to feel anything...right?

"Everything okay?" Mara looked up from her own research with concern. Apparently Eddie had made quite a bit of noise shifting the pile of books around.

"Book was heavy," he lied, plopping down next to her and flinging it open.

He couldn't afford to stress over people he had only just met.

* * *

Patricia was returning to the North Tower when she was ambushed by no other than Jerome. He stood at the top of the stairwell, blocking the path to her corridor. "Do you plan on moving?" she grumbled. It had been a long day and she didn't have a lot of patience for this. Besides, she felt oddly comfortable being rude to Jerome. It came naturally.

"Eventually," he said. "Alfie told me all there is to know about you. He knows your sister."

Unimpressed, Patricia ducked under Jerome's arm. "What's there to know?" she asked, now standing on the other side of Jerome.

"Drat," he mumbled, looking towards the stairs and then back at Patricia. She had passed him with remarkable ease. "_Everything," _he said evasively.

"Don't be stupid."

"Okay, fine," Jerome relented. "I don't know much. But I'd like to! Have lunch with me tomorrow?"

Patricia had to physically restrain herself from smacking her forehead. What is it with the boys here thinking lunch with a girl in a school cafeteria was some kind of big deal? Not that she minded all the attention, but she failed to see how eating together at _boarding school _was some kind of special achievement. Nevertheless, she shook her head.

"Sorry, another time. I'm eating with Eddie."

Jerome huffed. "He doesn't relate to you as well as I do!"

"What are you talking about? We don't even know each other. Stop being so girly."

"I'm not being girly," Jerome said indignantly. "But _fine. _I'll be back," he said dramatically, before taking the stairs two at a time.

Patricia watched him go, a little curious. The acting students all lived in the North Tower and he had headed for the South one. Chalking it up to general Jerome mischievousness, she headed for her room and straight for the shower. She had once heard that people did their deepest thinking in there.

She hoped it was true because all of a sudden she had a _lot _to think about. Because if she wasn't mistaken, she had potentially _two _boys interested in her. Even if all they wanted was friendship, she was still a little uncomfortable. She felt a little spark around _both_ of them.

And that just simply wouldn't do.

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter isn't too long but it's something right?! I really am sorry for the wait. I hope it doesn't seem like nothing is happening. This story isn't really packed with action; it's more about everyone getting to know each other and finding their love interests and all that. It's meant to be AU fluff pretty much, not a super complicated plot. Anyway, sorry for disappearing and see you soon! (I promise. I've got my act together now!)


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Back again. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter, thanks so much! Unfortunately, a lot less is going to happen in this story than I thought it would :( I love AU Peddie but this universe is kind of hard to write in since there are so many characters and no central plot. I find myself fumbling a lot. In order to properly develop this, it'd have to be at least 20 chapters and I'm not prepared to take that on. So instead I'm going to try to cap this at 10 chapters and make it a mini fic of sorts.

**************Disclaimer:** House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

* * *

Eddie leaned against the wall and waited. The acting kids definitely hadn't been let out yet because he was yet to see a red blazer parading around the hall, screaming and or singing. They tended to be loud and bubbly, so it was pretty easy to tell when they were around. He smirked. Maybe that's why he was so attracted to Patricia. He found it so mysterious that she was an _acting _student. They had already established that she didn't fit the stereotypical mold, but he still couldn't get over it.

"Keep it moving, Aristotle," Patricia joked. Eddie jumped a little and smiled sheepishly. Feeling bold, Patricia grabbed Eddie's arm and playfully dragged him into the cafeteria. "I'm hungry. We don't have all afternoon for you to become the world's next philosopher."

"I wasn't that deep in thought," Eddie objected, standing behind Patricia in the lunch line.

Patricia raised an eyebrow high. "A group of rambunctious acting students passed you talking at the top of their lungs and you didn't even blink."

"Rambunctious," Eddie repeated thoughtfully. "That's a big word. You sure you know what it means?"

Patricia threw one her string beans at Eddie, effectively shutting him up. They both laughed, but Eddie was the first one to stop. His smile faded as he took in the sight of Jerome entering the lunchroom. Patricia noticed how he wilted a little, automatically tensing up.

"What's your issue with Jerome?" she asked curiously.

"No issue," Eddie muttered. "There's something about him..." he shook his head, trailing off. "What's _your _issue with Jerome?"

"Mine?" Patricia nervously dropped her fork and Eddie gave her a pointed look that said _don't you dare try to deny it._ "Fine. I don't have an issue with him exactly. He's an okay person. I'm pretty sure he likes me though."

Eddie resisted the urge to flinch. He was afraid she'd say that. Jerome liking Patricia was a problem because Eddie was quickly begin to realize that he liked her too. He'd better tell her soon. Instead, he pushed the Jerome issue further. "You don't seem happy that he likes you. Shouldn't you be flattered instead of anxious?"

"I'm not anxious!" Patricia protested. "And I guess I'm a little flattered but mostly, I'm uncomfortable. He's not my type and all of our interactions are awkward. For me at least." Narrowing her eyes, she gave Eddie a long hard stare. "Are you sure you're studying photography and not psychology or something? I usually don't spill my feelings like that," she accused, making it sound as though it was Eddie's fault he was so easy to talk to.

Eddie was surprised and pleased to hear that he was the exception to Patricia's general rule, but he didn't let it show. He smirked and shrugged. "Not your type huh? What about me though?"

Patricia dropped her fork again and her mouth fell open. She looked a little uncertain, but she quickly recovered. "I thought we were friends," she pointed out with a teasing smile.

Eddie shrugged. "We could be more," he suggested.

"I'm not that easy," Patricia replied, surprised by how easily the conversation was flowing given the awkward nature of the subject. "We'd have to go out on dates and everything."

"This is a date."

"Hardly," Patricia laughed. "But fine, agreed." They ate in pleasant silence for a few moments. But then Mara walked in and Eddie visually drooped again. "What?" Patricia asked curiously.

"That's Mara," Eddie sighed. "She's a really sweet girl and she's really smart too. Craaaazy smart," Eddie waved his hands around to exaggerate his point. "She's in the writing program and we were working together on some research for the memory book. But I'm pretty she likes me and I don't know what to do."

Patricia's heart dropped a little. Her instinct was to throw a fit and dump her water on Eddie's head but she took a deep breath, opting for the mature route. She would give her new friend honest advice, never mind the fact that they had _just _been flirting.

"You could give her a chance," she suggested, trying to keep the sadness out of her voice.

"What?"

"You said you didn't know what to do..."

"...about letting her down," Eddie clarified with a weak grin. "I like _you, _remember?"

"Oh. Right." Patricia instantly felt lighter. It had all happened very fast but if she wasn't mistaken, they had both admitted that they had _feelings _for one another. How mushy. But also, how awesome. "Hmm..." she mused. "I think I may have a plan."

"Yeah?" Eddie grabbed his tray and stood to throw it out. Patricia did the same. "That was fast."

"I have my evil genius on," she said casually with a mischievous wink.

"Cute," Eddie commented with a chuckle. "So when does this plan go into effect?"

"You said you were going on a tour with Mara, right? Mind if I come along?"

Eddie frowned. "I don't know, I don't want to hurt her feelings or anything." He tilted his head in confusion as though it was taking all of his effort to concentrate on talking about emotions. "Bringing you isn't a good idea right?"

"Just trust me. It won't hurt her, I promise," Patricia vowed. "I'll explain the plan to you after our next round of classes."

Eddie didn't object. For some inexplicable reason, he trusted Patricia. Even though they had just met. She seemed to know what she was doing and that was comforting. Eddie was a little uncomfortable not knowing the details of the plan but he respected Patricia's "evil genius." He'd have to wait and see.

* * *

"Ready to start the tour?" Mara said brightly.

"Yeah. I mentioned it to one of my friends who is also a transfer student and she wanted to come along. Is that all right?"

"Totally," Mara said kindly. If she was disappointed, she wasn't letting it on.

"Oh and she's also bringing another friend. Not a transfer student but um...he was very interested in the fact that you were giving a complete tour. He claims he can do better?"

Mara gasped. "I'd like to see him try," she said with determination.

Eddie made a mental note to compliment Patricia. Knowing nothing about Mara other than she was dedicated to school, Patricia had correctly made the assumption that she would be an ambitious person in general. Phase one of the plan had been to get Mara riled up over the idea that someone could give better tours than her. It was petty, but Mara was the kind of person who strived to be the best at everything. She didn't appreciate being challenged.

Phase two was for Patricia and Jerome to join the tour. Eddie has questioned the reason for Jerome's presence and Patricia had to shoot him a withered, _are you kidding me? _look before Eddie understood.

"We're going to try to set them up!" Eddie had exclaimed. "So then they're not focused on you and me. Brilliant," he marveled. Patricia had bowed, and the two of them had shared a special smile.

Presently, Patricia and Jerome made their way to the meeting place and joined Eddie and Mara.

"So here's the self-proclaimed genius tour guide," Jerome drawled at Mara's back. She wasn't facing him because she was double-checking that her list of spots had everything on it that she wanted it to. Mara turned around to give Jerome a quizzical, angry stare and Jerome inhaled deeply. "...hi," he muttered.

"Guys are so easy," Patricia whispered softly so that only Eddie could hear.

"I resent that," he hissed back. "How did you know this would work?" He moved closer to Patricia so that they could continue their conversation in hushed tones while Mara and Jerome introduced themselves.

"Mara is gorgeous, for starters," Patricia pointed out. "But the important part is Jerome doesn't value arguing and teasing as much as he thought he did. I know they don't know each other but I hang out with Jerome all the time and I've seen him sometimes stare at her in the hall. He may flirt with me but that's just because that's how he is. It's not me he likes."

"But like you said...they don't even know each other," Eddie said.

"They do now," Patricia grinned.

"It can't be that simple." Eddie sounded appalled.

"Sure it is," Patricia replied cheekily.

And true to her words, Jerome and Mara were chatting pleasantly, even engaging in some casual banter.

"I bet I know this school better than you," Jerome taunted. But his smile was soft and eyes bright.

"Not a chance!" Mara exclaimed. Her voice held more emotion than Eddie had ever heard.

"Love is freaking bizarre," Eddie mumbled, watching Mara and Jerome interact. He was glad Patricia's plan was working, but they seemed like an unlikely couple.

"So!" Patricia clapped her hands together. "Let's get this show on the road, tour guides. Shall we begin?"

Mara nodded and motioned for the other three to follow her. "Let's start with the south tower where the writing students reside. This tower is pretty historical. In 1853..."

"Hang on," Jerome cut off. "Why not the north tower? Where the _acting _students live?"

"Because the south tower is closer," Mara pointed out.

Eddie leaned against the wall, sensing a mini debate about to bubble over the surface. Jerome and Mara may be attracted to one another but that didn't mean they weren't going to give each other a time. Jerome was about to reply something sarcastic and teasing when Eddie's surprised shout cut them off.

One minute he had been leaning against the small wall bordering the south stairwell, and the next minute he wasn't there at all. He had vanished. Mara screamed, covering her mouth in shock.

"Oh my god! Where did he go?"

"I don't know," Jerome replied shakily, looking just as surprised as Mara.

The two of them hadn't been watching Eddie, lost in their own chatter. But Patricia had been. She had seen him disappear through the wall. She had realized what the wall really was.

"It's a secret panel of some kind! He must have activated some kind of switch!"

"Woah," Jerome breathed. "That's kind of awesome."

"That depends," Patricia snapped. She began hesitantly tapping at the wall. "Eddie? Eddie, are you okay? Can you hear us?" All three of them held their breath, waiting for his response. They were met with silence.

Their eyes widened with horror when Eddie didn't answer. Even if there _was _a secret room of some kind, he should be able to hear them! What had happened?

Simultaneously, they frantically began to pound at the wall.

They needed to find that switch or lever and activate it fast. Eddie had disappeared, and they needed to get him out. Fast.

* * *

**A/N:** Hooray, adventure! What do you guys think happened to Eddie? Let me know what you think and thanks for reading :)


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Next time I choose not to update for over three weeks, I shouldn't leave off on a cliffhanger...lesson learned :( I don't really have an excuse for not updating this other than having a busy schedule and being more interested in other works in progress. But nevertheless, I'm really sorry for the wait - thank you for being patient and thanks for all the kind reviews!

**************Disclaimer:** House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

* * *

After five minutes of knocking against the wall, Jerome and Mara stopped, looking at Patricia for guidance. Still slamming her knuckles against the wall, Patricia didn't notice until she realized she was the only one still working.

"What?" she demanded. "Why are you both looking at me like that?"

"Patricia, I know you want to find Eddie. We all do. But this is clearly not working," Mara said gently, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We're looking at you because we hoped you had another idea on how to get him out of there."

"But why me?" Patricia stepped back and examined the wall, concern etched upon her frowning face. She was only half concentrating on the conversation; finding Eddie was far more important.

"Because you two clearly like each other. Any idiot could see that," Jerome said plainly.

"Jerome!" Mara exclaimed. "_Because, _you know him best and you care about him," she edited Jerome's statement shooting him a reproaching glare.

Much to Patricia's amusement, Jerome hung his head in shame and the tips of his ears flushed red. Mara already had a hold over him and they had barely been speaking for a half hour. Patricia gave it less than a week before they were official. Maybe she and Eddie would also...

Eddie.

He was still missing. More worried than ever, Patricia shook her head. "We've been knocking at the wall but Eddie was doing no such thing when he disappeared. Maybe it's a different kind of movement. He was leaning against the wall so maybe accidentally rested against a hidden button or something."

"A hidden button?" Jerome sounded doubtful.

"No, I think it's worth a shot," Mara murmured. "Where was he standing again?"

Patricia quickly stepped over to the far end of the wall and motioned towards a section. "He was standing about here and his head was resting against that painting...the painting!" she gasped.

Evidently, Jerome and Mara had thought the same as she had, because both had sprinted over to Patricia's side to help her take the painting down. Sure enough, behind the piece was a small gray button that blended into the wall. It camouflaged so well that it was nearly invisible.

"No way," Jerome breathed.

Patricia wasted no time in pushing the button and placed her hand on the wall. "It slides," she hissed, pushing it and motioning for Jerome and Mara to follow her. They walked through, immediately spotting Eddie sitting on the ground at the other end of the room, rubbing is head. He was half sitting, half pathetically leaning against the wall. He looked dazed.

"What happened?" Patricia demanded.

"Mate, I understand that you ended up in here on accident but how on earth did you manage to hit your head?" Jerome scoffed.

"The place was booby trapped," Eddie grumbled, his gaze slightly unfocused. He shook his head to clear the dizziness.

"Are you okay?" Patricia asked, settling beside Eddie and glancing at him worriedly.

Eddie grinned. "Worried about me?"

"Not even a little," Patricia denied, hoping her lie seemed believable. Apparently, it didn't, because Eddie looked at her knowingly and she bit her lip before letting all pretense of not caring melt away. "Let me see your head," she muttered.

Patricia carefully ran her hand through Eddie's scalp, looking for a bump or wound of some kind. "This part is swelling right here," she said. "How many fingers am I holding up?" Patricia held up her hand.

"Ridiculous," Eddie responded. "I don't think I have a concussion."

"You might," Patricia insisted. "My dad is a doctor, I know what I'm doing. How many?" She sounded bossy and worried all at the same time.

"Honestly, Patricia. I'm potentially concussed, not _brain dead."_

_"How many?"_

"Five!" Eddie replied, exasperated. "And I'm fine," he grumbled. "Not that counting fingers even proves that. It's a silly thing to do. Someone help me up."

Jerome hoisted him to his feet, snickering at Patricia's intense concern.

"Don't laugh, I think it's cute," Mara said sweetly, elbowing Jerome in the stomach.

He grunted in discomfort and opened his mouth to reply, but shut it again when he saw Mara's determined stare. "You're right, of course," he muttered. "It's adorable."

"It wasn't adorable," Patricia protested hotly. "I was just doing the right thing."

Eddie frowned at this, but didn't comment. "I suggest we find out where we are and how we got here," he said, rubbing his head and wincing. He hadn't complained much, but it was clear he had been tossed against the wall pretty hard.

Mara explained the hidden button behind the painting and Eddie nodded in understanding.

"I must have been leaning against that thing with all my weight then," he mused. "What _is _this place though?" Eddie turned around in a full circle, curious.

The room they were standing in was old and dusty, the walls made of cold and hard stone. It was completely unfurnished except for a painting on the east wall. That was kind of odd considering how bare the rest of the room was.

"It's kind of weird that there's a painting there," Patricia commented. "This place is stupid and creepy. And it doesn't make sense because all there is, is a painting. Come on, let's go."

"What if it does make sense?" Eddie questioned.

"No..." Mara replied slowly. "Patricia's definitely right. It's really odd that the only thing is here is a wall decoration."

"Not unless there's another button hiding behind the painting," Eddie suggested.

"That's brilliant!" Jerome praised, immediately striding over to the painting. Eddie followed, and together they removed the heavy frame off the wall and began feeling the texture of the wall.

"Found it," Eddie said triumphantly, hitting a button.

"Great, let's go," Mara said, feeling adventurous.

"Mara, wait!" Patricia said sharply, the same time Eddie and Jerome chorused a loud "NO!"

But she had already disappeared behind the wall.

"What if the other room has a trap in it like this one did?" Patricia asked.

"It probably does," Jerome said, swallowing hard and pushing at the wall with all of his strength. "Come on, she might be hurt. We've gotta find her. For all we know, each room is equipped with something more dangerous than the last." Jerome's tone was serious and grim, a rare thing to see.

He didn't wait for Patricia and Eddie to agree with him.

He simply shoved at the wall one last time and headed for the other side.

* * *

**A/N: **...Because I enjoy making people disappear behind walls?! Anyway, I am really not satisfied with this at all. It's not anything close to my best work and it's extremely short. But it was about time I got it out there so...here? :( I won't take as long to update again though! I need to get this fic wrapped up, because there's little inspiration left.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **It's been a huge struggle to work on this fic, but thankfully it's winding down. This chapter is pretty short, but at least it's something. After this, there will be one more chapter and an epilogue. It was a lot shorter than I originally intended for it to be but that's all right; I'd rather cut it short and have it be average than abandon it all together! Thanks so much for sticking with me, I know updates have been few and far in between.

**************Disclaimer:** House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

* * *

"Mara!" Jerome exclaimed with relief. She was standing on the other side of the wall, unharmed and still standing. If anything, she looked merely confused. "You're all right! You're not hurt, right?" He surveyed her carefully, a slight look of panic evident in his gaze.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "I was expecting a trap of some kind like the one Eddie encountered but nothing happened. It was really odd," she murmured thoughtfully, glancing around the large room curiously. "It's a lot like the other one. Completely bare except for another painting in the same exact spot."

Fully assured that Mara was all right, Jerome strode forward and confidently planted a soft kiss on her mouth. She flushed and wrapped her arms around his neck before pulling away and looking at him curiously. They awkwardly stared at each other, widely smiling at each other, looking a little shy.

Patricia rolled her eyes. "It's a little too late to look bashful after that kiss, lovebirds," she teased, sticking her tongue out at them.

Eddie took no notice of Mara and Jerome, smiling grimly at the discovery of yet another room. "It's not very subtle to hide a series of secret rooms behind a bunch of paintings when the rest of the rooms are completely empty. I wonder why that is."

"There's a story here for sure," Patricia agreed. "Okay, well. Let's go."

"That's it?" Eddie asked in belief. "You admit there's a story here but you don't want to investigate it?"

"Not really."

"I think we should," Mara suggested.

Jerome linked his fingers through hers and grinned stupidly. "Whatever Mara says."

"That escalated quickly," Patricia muttered, slightly disgusted at the lovesick behavior. "Okay, fine. We'll investigate."

"Great. Now let's get out of here," Eddie shuddered a little before leading the group out of the connected rooms. He let Mara and Jerome linger behind them for privacy. When only Patricia was within earshot, he whispered: "Don't be too hard on them. I know you're jealous, but we'll get there too."

"Excuse me?" Patricia hissed, lowering her head so Eddie wouldn't see her skin darken.

"You heard me," he said smugly. "No point in beating around the bush. You better watch out, Williamson. I'm going to make my move soon."

And for once in a life, Patricia decided to go with the flow. Raising her head, she met his eyes and shot him a smirk of her own. "Bring it on," she encouraged.

Mara caught up with them, still clinging to Jerome's hand. "Wait up! At least I can kind of finish my tour now. Let me point out whatever falls on our way to the library since we're going to research and everything."

She reclaimed her place at the front of the group and cheerfully pointed out the various classrooms and wings of Cornwall, her eyes still shining from Jerome's bold kiss down in the underground rooms.

"Everyone split up," Mara instructed quietly once they were inside the library. "We want to find out the history behind those rooms. We only came across two, but maybe there are more. We'll go back down there of course, but let's see if any of our research indicates that there are more. We want to know why they were built, what they were used for, what the significance behind hiding the buttons behind paintings are, etc. Hardcore research. Is that understood?" Her voice was firm and instructive, yet oddly gentle, holding no bossiness.

"I'm in love with a genius," Jerome marveled.

"Love?" Eddie echoed.

"I told you it escalated quickly," Patricia whispered.

"I've had a crush on her for a long time," Jerome defended.

Mara smiled softly, looking touched. She beamed before disappearing down an aisle, intent on looking for books. Naturally, Jerome followed her. Eddie and Patricia watched the two of them sneak out of sight, identical looks of amusement on their faces.

"What happened to splitting up?" Patricia asked.

"My thoughts exactly," Eddie grinned. "Shall we do some research?"

Patricia sighed. It was no secret that she wasn't a fan of reading or hard work in general but she nodded, dramatically frowning. "Lead the way."

* * *

They sat side by side, opting to not to take their books back to the table. In their eagerness to share information, they had scooted closer and closer over a period of time, until there was hardly any distance between them.

"This book talks about how the founders of the school created four studies underground that were all interconnected. A room for the founder of each school. There must be four rooms down there then," Patricia speculated excitedly.

"Enjoying researching after all?" Eddie challenged, chuckling at her enthusiastic tone.

"Psh..no way," she denied, stubbornly turning the page and skimming for more information.

"A room for the founder of each school. This totally reminds me of Harry Potter in a weird kind of way. I told my dad Cornwall would be like this," he mused.

"What?"

"Nothing," Eddie said hurriedly, shaking his head fondly and returning to his research. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke again. "What's the point of all this research though? What are we going to do with this information?"

"Maybe it can be the topic of the memory book thing that the photography and writing department are working on for the school's 25th anniversary?" Patricia suggested. "The acting and music programs could probably coordinate their performance around the research in a creative way, kind of a parody thing if we get a story cool enough."

"That's actually a really good idea," Eddie praised, sounding impressed.

"Were you expecting anything less?" Patricia bragged, jokingly fluffing her hair and looking proud.

"Nope, I always knew you were special."

The statement was casual, yet serious enough that it made Patricia's head snap up in surprise. Earlier, she had been too absorbed in information hunting to notice the lack of space between them, but now, it was all too obvious. They were both sitting cross-legged and their knees were touching, it would be so easy to lean in and kiss him.

Well why not?

She leaned in slowly and cautiously, and so did he. When they got to the point where their noses were nearly touching, Eddie twisted his head so his lips were at her ear instead of her mouth and whispered: "You're going to have to take me out on a date before we do anything. How else will I know you want me for more than my body?"

Instead of being mad at the false lead on, Patricia snorted and good-naturedly whispered back. "What happened to YOU being the one to make the move?"

"I decided that guys have to make the move to often. _You _do it."

"Fine," Patricia agreed, scooting back. "Dearest Eddie, recently self-declared girl."

_"What?"_

"Interrupting is rude," Patricia chastised, biting back a laugh. "Would you like to go out on a date with me?"

"Yes, but I'm not a girl," Eddie huffed.

"Could have fooled me," Patricia scoffed.

Growling, Eddie shoved the book he was reading off his lap and leaned forward, resting his hands on Patricia's waist and slanting his mouth over hers. They sat there in the back of the library, kissing, their research strewn out all around them until he finally pulled away and took a deep breath. Patricia did the same.

"Still think I'm a girl?" He challenged with a glint his eye, gazing longingly at her lips.

"No, but what happened to not doing anything until our date?"

"Let's just call this our first date," Eddie suggested.

Patricia raised her eyes to the ceiling and sighed. "My first date in a _library _of all places. No one will ever believe it."

"Yeah, well. Same here." Eddie climbed to his feet and extended a hand towards Patricia, pulling her up. "Come on. Let's go show the others what we've found. If we combine all our research, I think we've got the makings of a pretty sick 25th school anniversary project."

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks again for waiting so patiently. This fic is almost done so you won't have to deal with my awful updating patterns for much longer!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **This is the last chapter, the last section will be a mini epilogue. Also, I used the same headmaster I used in my oneshot "New Girl" just because I didn't feel like creating yet another random OC. This story and that are still completely unrelated though.

**************Disclaimer:** House of Anubis belongs to Nickelodeon, not me.

* * *

In the end, it was Mara who ended up doing the bulk of the research. Jerome had spent most of the time sneaking glances at his new girlfriend from behind a book and therefore absorbed nothing. As for Eddie and Patricia, once they had started kissing, they hadn't felt like stopping. All of their research came to a halt as they decided to enjoy their first "date" and make out in a lonely corner of the library, shielded by several shelves.

Despite all that, the four teenagers had eagerly agreed to report their findings to the headmaster. Currently, they were waiting in the main office, hoping he would agree to see them. His secretary had told them to wait.

"Ah," Mr. Parker said, poking his head out of his office to survey the group. "What an interesting lot we have here. Two from the acting program, one from the photography program, and one from the writing. Two transfers, all sophomores, and all exceptionally bright," he murmured as he flipped through their files. Finally he looked up, utterly puzzled. "What can I do for you?"

Patricia wasn't one for patience. "We found the secret rooms. All four of them," she blurted out.

"Excuse me?"

"Sir, it's true. What she means to say is that we found what we believe to be some unknown sections of the school. Kind of underground. Or between the walls rather," Mara cut in, holding up her folder neatly labelled "room research" as though that would prove her point.

Mr. Parker's jaw dropped in surprise and he hastily closed his mouth and nodded, ushering them inside his office. "Always thought it was a myth," he muttered, as he moved a stack of papers and attentively placed both hands on the desk, indicating he was ready to listen. "Elaborate, please."

"I was giving my new friends a tour of the school and we mistakenly found one of the rooms. It was hidden rather obviously, I think. Eddie just accidentally leaned against a certain section of the wall, and before we knew it, he had disappeared. We found a hidden button and panel and followed him down because we thought he might be in trouble. And once down there, we found one more room. We went back up to do research and found evidence that supported the fact that there must be four. Just last night we went down again and sir, it's true. There are four secret rooms!"

Mr. Parker patiently nodded to Mara's explanation, not interrupting once. Much to their relief, he didn't chastise them for being out of bed after hours, either. He was focusing on the implications of what they were saying.

"And what kind of research did you come up with?" he asked.

Mara took the lead and explained their findings which ranged from the history of the rooms to the original usage of them. Comfortable and well versed in their findings, she droned on for quite some time.

Eventually Mr. Parker held up a hand and Mara quieted. "Comprehensive findings," he observed with what Eddie could have sworn was pride. "Now the question is, why show me?"

"You're the headmaster," Mara stuttered. "You're the first person we thought of."

"With no ulterior motive?"

Mr. Parker sounded amused and Patricia took it as her queue to interject. "There's always an ulterior motive, sir."

"Thought so," Mr. Parker leaned back in his chair and folded his hands. "Let's hear it."

Mara looked lost. "Um well..."

"I got this," Patricia interrupted. "This is awesome information. We basically proved a boarding school legend. We'd like to honor the history of the school through the memory book and play for the school's 25th anniversary. If you would permit us."

"Interesting. And how would you go about this?"

"I already have some great shots of the underground rooms," Eddie offered. "We could probably get a team of kids to research some of the portraits hung around the school and we could feature those too. The memory book would be more straightforward, honest history spread out in a cool way. Almost dull. _Exactly _the kind of school project you're looking for."

"And the play?"

Eddie punched Jerome's shoulder. "I'm hoping it'll be more exciting than the book but ask this guy," he said.

"Parodies are fun," Jerome agreed. "I'm sure with me and Patricia on the job we could come up with something..._entertaining_."

Mr. Parker sighed. "Somehow I feel like I might regret this...but permission granted provided your classmates approve of the idea. I, erm...look forward to the presentation."

* * *

The group of four threw themselves into preparing for the anniversary celebration. With the exception of Mara, no one was particularly keen of school work, but since the project was so exciting they were all working hard.

Patricia and Jerome were in charge of putting together the show. They had unofficially become the leaders, bringing together the acting students and writing students to create a clever presentation with the assistance of Mara.

After chastising Patricia for going off on an adventure without her, Piper also volunteered her musical services. She asked Alfie to write music with her which was more of an excuse to spend more time with him. She had the biggest crush on him in the world.

Meanwhile, Eddie could no longer be spotted without his camera on his neck. He had roped his roommate into helping him write captions and historical info to coordinate with his photos.

"Shouldn't you be captioning your own photos?" Fabian asked.

"That's the most boring part, so nope, the job is all yours," Eddie replied, fixated on angling his camera lens.

"What about the information? You've already researched some of these people, right? Do you have notes for me?"

The tips of Eddie's ears turned red as he remembered his "researching" experience. He had only gotten through one source before Patricia and him had decided kissing was more fun.

"Uh nope. Sorry, dude," he apologized.

Fabian rubbed his face and sighed, exasperated. "Basically, you're not going to help me at all."

"That's about right."

Fabian opened his mouth to lecture his roommate before changing his mind. There was no point. He had been quick to learn that getting Eddie to do something he didn't want to was just about impossible. Eddie appreciated Fabian's insight.

Quite frankly, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship...for Eddie at least.

* * *

With just a week to the big anniversary celebration, no one had any free time and it was beginning to bother to Patricia.

"I've barely seen you," she complained, shaking Eddie's shoulder.

"No don't," he whined, re-angling his stance. "Let me just get this shot..."

Patricia waited until Eddie had taken a picture of the North Tower before shaking him again. She also deposited his camera bag into his arms. "I'm not your servant," she sulked.

"You're my girlfriend," Eddie cheerfully corrected. He carefully slipped his camera inside the bag.

"Yeah but...we moved kind of fast, don't you think? We've both been so busy, I feel like I don't know anything about you."

Eddie considered this and shrugged. "Okay, shoot. Ask me anything."

"Favorite color?"

"Your eye color?"

"Eddie!"

He ducked as Patricia attempted to swing her bag at his hand. "Ow!" he howled. "Fine, blue. Jeez."

"Mine is dark purple."

"So...purple?"

"_Dark _purple," Patricia clarified.

"There's a difference?"

Rather than exchanging more basic information about one another, Patricia patiently explained the concept of colors having shades, to which Eddie dismissed with scorn.

They made their way across the grounds and back to the entrance of the school, hands lightly clasped together.

"I'm glad we met," Patricia said suddenly.

Eddie's answered that with a deep kiss.

* * *

**EPILOGUE:**

Mr. Sweet had heard Cornwall was an amazing school, housed only the brightest and the most artistic. He had heard that it helped children develop their skills and nurture their talent. He had enrolled Eddie in this institution knowing it would change his son.

But never did he imagine the changes would happen so quickly, so effortlessly.

After just one semester, Eddie had already changed so much...for the brighter.

He was more passionate, eager, hardworking.

When Mr. Sweet had arrived for Cornwall's 25th anniversary celebration, he had expected Eddie to give him a quick wave and then pretend he didn't exist, but that hadn't been the case. Eddie had given his father one of the memory books and earnestly pointed out which photos he had taken even though Mr. Sweet could read the caption with the credit perfectly well.

Still, it had been nice to have his son sitting by his side, walking him through this school project.

After all the parents had a chance to go through the memory book and tour the rooms and view the exhibition the photography and writing students had put together, they were invited to the theater to see the show.

"My girlfriend helped direct this," Eddie said with pride.

Again, he surprised Mr. Sweet by taking the seat next to him as opposed to sitting elsewhere.

"You're not going to sit with your friends?"

"You're only here for one weekend," Eddie said, puzzled. "So 'course not."

Mr. Sweet was so pleased at this that he completely forgot that Eddie had mentioned having a girlfriend.

"Wait. Girlfriend?"

"Daaad, we can talk about it later. Sshh."

And to Mr. Sweet's astonishment, his son sat quietly and respectfully throughout the entire play without falling asleep or mocking it underneath his breath. He laughed in all the right places and cheered for his friends at the end.

Eddie was well...perfectly pleasant.

"So what did you think of everything?" Eddie asked at the end.

Mr. Sweet laughed helplessly before smiling wide. "Remind me to pay for the next semester before I leave. Now come along. Let's meet that girlfriend of yours."

And then the two most important people in Eddie's life met one another.

Needless to say, Eddie and Patricia were _that _couple.

The one that beat all the odds and stayed together all throughout high school and even afterwards.

* * *

**A/N:**

Well that's all to this fic.

I'm sorry if the ending seemed kind of sudden. I know that it was but I started off with a vague idea of an artsy boarding school with the hope that it would develop into something bigger and fun but that didn't quite go to plan. I could ramble about all the things I dislike about this story, but I'll try to keep it short.

I'm not very proud of this story, but hey, it's still something, right?! Lots of fluff and there was some suspense for a chapter or two. I guess this story was a bit of a failed experiment but I still really appreciate you all sticking with me and saying such nice things about it.

Thanks for joining me! You've all been incredible :)


End file.
